First since 2014. General strike against housing crisis in Spain

Employees across Spain launched the first general strike in 14 years to protest the country's increasingly unbearable housing crisis.

The strike, which was held less than three weeks before the early general elections to be held in the country on November 29, is being carried out with work stoppages in many sectors despite the adverse weather conditions.

The strike is the first recorded nationwide general strike since the protests against austerity policies implemented in the eurozone debt crisis in 2014.

Spain's two largest labor unions, UGT and CCOO, representing more than 1 million employees in total, and tenant associations reacting to increasing rents and evictions, fully support the strike.

Unions stated that participation in the strike varied across the country, and that the participation rate peaked in coastal regions where the housing shortage was felt intensely.

According to the statements of UGT and CCOO unions, the participation rate in the ports and automotive sector reached 90 percent in the first hours of the strike.

It was announced that production had completely stopped in many industrial facilities, including Volkswagen in Navarra and SEAT factories in Barcelona.

It was announced that the work stoppage rate was 85 percent in the meat sector, 82 percent in garbage collection services and 75 percent in the energy sector.

While participation in health and social services remained at 38 percent, this rate was recorded as 35 percent in postal services.

Unions stated that the 10 percent decrease in electricity demand embodies the disruption in energy-intensive sectors and announced that the petrochemical, steel processing, food processing and transportation sectors have largely stopped their activities.

CEOE, Spain's main employer organization, noted that the decline in electricity consumption fell behind the 14 percent decrease recorded in the previous general strike.

Due to the protests, Barcelona metro canceled all services except busy commute hours.

While Madrid metro diluted its services by 50 percent for most of the day, it announced that it would increase its capacity to 80 percent of the normal level during peak hours.

A brawl broke out between the police and demonstrators

While protesters in Madrid tried to block vehicle traffic by dragging recycling containers onto the roads, many shopkeepers in Barcelona closed their shutters and protected their shops as a precaution.

There was tension between pickets and police forces at the Mercamadrid wholesaler in Madrid.

In its statement on the X platform, the CCOO union announced that the police used pepper gas on the protesters at the entrance of the market, detained one activist, and 13 people required medical attention.

While confirming the arrest, the police spokesman denied the wholesale use of pepper spray, but acknowledged that pepper spray was used to disperse another group of protesters in the Carabanchel area.

Dozens of activists gathered in front of the Madrid municipal bus garage in the morning, waving flags and trying to block the exit of the buses and chanting slogans: "While you are working, they are stealing from you."

According to the data of the Bank of Spain, there is a housing deficit of approximately 750 thousand in the country and this figure is expected to exceed 1 million by 2028.

Data from the Spanish Youth Council shows that the average rental price in the country, 1,176 euros, corresponds to approximately 98.7 percent of the average monthly salary of a young worker.

Strike supporter Jesús González, 36, who works in the IT department of a hospital, described the difficulty he experienced with the following words:

"I'm 36 years old and I still can't move into my own home. Rents are constantly rising, house prices are constantly rising, and this is now completely impossible."

CEOE Vice President Angela de Miguel, in her statement on state television TVE, claimed that the lack of housing made it difficult to recruit personnel and that small businesses were also harmed by this situation, and that the strike was contrary to its goal.

Angela de Miguel stated that the solution to the problem is to build more houses and reduce taxes on construction and house purchase processes, and argued that these taxes have increased the final sales price of a new house by 40 percent in the last 10 years.

On the other hand, while two storms named Charles and Bruna negatively affected the activities, the meteorological agency AEMET issued a warning in 14 regions against the possibility of strong winds, waves and heavy rain.